A Second Chance
by Firelily10
Summary: Draco Malfoy feels like his world has ended. He can't stand the whispers of distrust that surround him, or the screams of innocent souls haunting his dreams. Nobody would dare trust him again. He longs for a second chance. And then Luna came along. Draco/Luna please review; short
1. Whispers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, locations, and/or events that might appear in this story. No copyright intended. **

**Please review!**

**Chapter 1: Whispers**

Draco Malfoy was sitting alone by the lake. He stared as he watched the rock he'd just thrown skip out onto the water, breaking its calm, disrupting it. The rock skipped a few times before sinking into the bottom of the lake, never to resurface again. He felt like that rock, like he was sinking, never to resurface again. He felt like he was that rock, lying on the bottom of the murky, dark waters of the lake, never to see daylight again.

It had been a few months since the Battle of Hogwarts. He, like many other in his year, had not finished their final year at Hogwarts due to the war and had returned to their beloved school, which had been rebuilt. If you looked at the castle, you would find no traces of the war on its walls or floors, but the war had left its scars on the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, some scars far deeper than others. For Draco, the scars ran deep into his soul.

At first, he had been looking forward to returning to school. Back home it was only he and his mother in the empty manor. Life had been lonely, dead, flavorless. His poor mother was the only one who cared for him, and she, like him, had been left broken by the war. Lucius remained in Azkaban, and Draco no longer cared for the coward he had once called father. It had been because of Lucius's choices and mistakes that Draco had had to suffer. If his father had not sworn allegiance to the Dark Lord in the first place, Draco wouldn't have gone through the horrifying things he had gone through. In the past he had acted the way he had only to gain his father's approval. It was because of his father that he had been misled. It was because of his father's teachings that Draco had mistreated others. He had only been a boy; he knew only the things he had been taught by his father. Draco had to find out the truths of life the hard way. He learned to value human life not by the teachings of his parents but by watching innocent souls being killed. And it was to save his father, and mother, that Draco had become a Deatheater, the one thing he had always feared of becoming. It was to save his father's cowardly neck that he'd endured the stress and gruesome requirements of serving the Dark Lord. It was to save his father that he had to endure listening to the screams of tortured souls every night during the war.

And now the war was over, and he was still dealing with horrible things. The end of the war had meant relief for most, but for him it was another living hell to endure. Every night he was haunted by the faces of those he had watched die while in service to the Dark Lord. He heard their screams in his head. It drove him mad. And that wasn't the worst of it. The worst of it was the whispers. As he walked down the corridors of his school, he heard the whispers surrounding him, drowning him. The words 'Deatheater' and 'murderer' always were muttered whenever he was near. He had learned not to look at the glares and looks of fear on the faces of his fellow students. Nobody trusted him, nobody gave him a second chance. After everything he'd gone through, he'd changed. He'd turned from his wrongs, he regretted most of his life, a life he'd wasted on trying to please a cruel, cowardly man.

Draco wished for one thing: redemption. But he knew nobody would be crazy enough to give him the chance. He wasn't to be trusted. He only wanted to show others how he had changed, to make amends with those he had hurt. He'd attempted to do this but was rejected immediately. He'd passed Potter and his friends in the hallways and hadn't bothered to try to even apologize because he knew he'd be rejected by them. It was too late for him. The world would only ever see him as a monster. Every time he stared at his mark, he felt like a monster. And he couldn't help but feel that he deserved their looks of disgust and horror.

Draco was a rock, sinking in their whispers. If he was ever to be given a second chance, he'd take it. He would do anything to make the whispers of the day and the screams of the night go away.


	2. Luna

**Chapter 2: Luna**

Draco was constantly pulling down his sleeve as he wrote, but it was only attracting more glances at his left arm. He hated it when people stared at his mark. He'd tried to remove it, but it was dark magic. He would have that mark for the rest of his life.

Draco tugged on his sleeve again, hoping it would stay put and not show his mark. Satisfied with it, he continued his Charms essay. He concentrated hard on the words inked onto his parchment. At least his school work distracted him from his misery. As he worked, he felt empty inside. What was the use of all this work? He'd already seen it all, lived it all. He knew what was out there. They all did. He stared at the words again. They were meaningless, they meant nothing to him. They reminded him of the words inked onto the letters he received from his father every month: cold, worthless, meaningless. Those letters ended up burning in the fireplace. This essay would end up in a file cabinet after being graded. What was the difference? Everything in his life felt meaningless, like he was nothing but an empty word lost in an essay of thousands of more important words.

The bell rang and he hastily gathered his schoolbooks. As he was stuffing a textbook into his bag he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see the face of Luna Lovegood staring into his. It was then that he saw her beauty for the first time. Her sparkling blue eyes were so beautiful he wanted to stay lost in them forever, her flowing blond hair was like a blanker he wanted to curl up in, her smooth angelic face made him want to gently touch it. It was as if he was seeing her for the first time. And he felt stings of regret in his new heart, remembering every single moment he had mistreated her. He felt everything inside him burning. "Hello Draco" she said. She'd said his name. Her voice was like a melody that drifted through his head and heart, making him wanted to take hold of it and keep it forever.

"You're talking to me" he said in disbelief. He hadn't expected anybody to talk to him ever again aside from his mother.

"Of course I'm talking to you Draco Malfoy. How else am I to communicate with you? If you prefer letters, I can do that too of course but I generally prefer to speak to people" Luna said. Her voice was sincere, nothing loathing about it. Here was someone who saw him like any other regular person. Here was someone who didn't seem to care about his past. He tried not to get his hopes up though. All of this could easily shatter and crush him into oblivion.

"Is there something you wanted?" he asked as he walked out of the classroom into the crowded corridor. Luna followed him, a skip in her step. She always walked as though she were skipping.

"Yes Draco. You're always so alone and I thought perhaps you'd like to join me for your free period." Draco felt everything around him turn into sunshine and daises. This truly had to be some kind of dream. He found himself lost for any words. "Of course if you don't want to, I understand. I'm sure I can find Hermione or Ginny and spend my time with them."

"No no, I…I want to. I'd be honored" Draco replied. His words were jumbled together and sloppy. She laughed. Her laugh reminded him of little tinkling bells, magical, almost fairy like.

"Very well Draco Malfoy. Shall we go out to the lake then?"

"The lake?"

"Yes, I find it's a quiet peaceful place to think. And the scenery is quite extraordinary, don't you think?" Luna's airy, dreamy voice asked. Draco nodded in agreement. Luna held out her arm for him to hold. He took it gratefully and they walked together down the hall, attracting many confused looking glances. For once, he wasn't looking at the people around him. And for the first time in what seemed an eternity, Draco Malfoy smiled.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Draco and Luna sat with their backs slumped up against a large oak tree's trunk. They spoke not a word, not wanting to break the peaceful silence. The smell of the trees was relaxing, and the lake was a sight to behold. The water was smooth like silk, reflecting the sunlight in the most beautiful way. Hogwarts castle was reflected like a mirror in the lake. Nothing disturbed the silence or the water. Everything seemed at peace. Even Draco, for once, felt at peace. There was something about Luna's presence that made him feel calm. She seemed to be the only person in the entire world who didn't absolutely loath him, aside from his mother.

Draco found himself staring now at Luna, not the lake. She was staring blankly into space, as if looking out at something far in the distance. "Why did you choose to spend your time with me when you could be spending it with somebody else?" Draco asked. The question had been on his mind since she'd asked him to join her at the lake.

"Because I've always seen you differently than others. My mother always said I had a gift, a gift of seeing others as they truly are, not the way the world sees them. I watched you all through our sixth year Draco Malfoy. And I believe that you're not so different from me. We're just misunderstood. My father says that sometimes the runt of the litter is often cast aside and left to die, but if it's given the chance, it can prosper and grow. I've always thought of myself as the runt of the litter. Now I see you're one too. I wanted to give you a chance, because if I didn't, maybe nobody else would." Draco stared at her. That was the smartest, truest thing he'd ever heard her say. "Do you like purple raspberries? They're quite delicious" she said suddenly, turning to look him in the eyes. He smiled. She was Luna Lovegood, and absolutely nobody else in the world was like her. And it was Luna Lovegood who understood that he'd changed, that he was misunderstood. She was the only one who could hear past the whispers, see past the mark, and hopefully, heal the scars.


	3. Redemption

**Chapter 3: Redemption **

By befriending Luna, Draco felt that he'd partially redeemed himself. She'd forgiven him for his mistreatment of her and now she was his only friend in the world. She'd even done him the biggest favor. She'd gotten Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger to talk to him. And miraculously, he'd earned their forgiveness as well. If he earned their trust, he didn't know. If he earned their friendship, then he must've been blind. However, he was certain that now he could speak to them without them sneering or glaring at him. In fact, one might even say that they got along well.

Once the other students had spotted him getting along with Harry and the others, things started to change. People talked to him, and some of his fellow Slytherins felt comfortable enough to ask him to sit with them during meals. Luna talked about him to her fellow Ravenclaws in the most positive way imaginable. He had much to thank Luna for. She had given him his second chance, his redemption. Sure, people still whispered things and others still mistrusted him. However, things were starting to change for the better.

Luna remained to be his closest friend. Throughout the rest of their lives, they would remain close and continue to grow closer. Luna was the light that shined on his life. She was everything. And nothing could ever change that. Luna had been right about the runt of the litter. If given the chance, it can prosper.


End file.
